The Long Road Home
by XxBl4kOuTxX
Summary: A team lost Behind enemy lines...The Forces home send a new team in to pick up the pieces and Find the missing team, only to soon find out they will have to take...The Long Road Home. (Disclaimer - I do not take credit for Names, Locations, Items, etc. borrowed from Games and/or movies, however the plot, characters, and events in the story are my creative material.)
1. Prolouge

**Prologue – Unknown Date, Unknown Location**

They Ran at full speed through the alleyways, away from the enemy military forces following them. Boots slapped the Wet cement as heavy rain poured down and splashed on the roads. "In Here set down and hole up!" The team leader yelled pointing to a closed garage, the large doors provided cover and the windows gave insight on enemy positions. The team set up and grabbed sand-bags from a nearby blockade and made cover to block the parts of the door that were exposed to the open. "Got contact with HQ?" The Support gunner Asked, with weapon mounted on the sandbags pointing towards the road. "We're gonna try now and see If we get anything." The teams Radio specialist said adjusting the frequency on the radio. "HQ,HQ This is Trilo 1-1 calling out to request evac. Respond immediately, over." He said into the mouthpiece of his headset…No answer. "This is Trilo 1-1 to now any Allied forces in the area. Can anyone read me?" he asked again reaching a steady Frequency. "We read you Trilo 1-1, this is Firebase Phoenix. Your signal is patchy but we read you clear enough, what is your situation?" The Firebase radio-operator responded. "We are in deep trouble Phoenix, we are requesting evac or reinforcements to our AO." The specialist said. At that moment, a large group of enemy reinforcements came rushing out of the alleyways, making their ways to the streets. The Support gunner and Team Leader began opening fire as the forces came close. Shell cases began hitting the floor and clanging hitting each other. "We will work on your situation Trilo; can you stand by for 20 minutes? We got a team prepping for your pickup and evacuation from the area." The Operator said through the radio sounding uneased. Soon enough the entire team began focusing fire on the forces, dropping them one-by-one. "That's too slow Phoenix, We'll be dead in 10!" The leader yelled into his headpiece, on the same frequency as the specialist. "Just hold out Trilo 1-1! There is a team on their way with evac and supplies!" The radio operator yelled. The fighting was intense. Bullets were whizzing their heads and hitting the walls behind them. The Enemy forces began progressing still. "the just keep coming!" The support gunner said re-loading his weapon. "Watch Out! Grenade!" The specialist yelled as it hit their feet. They jumped back and the large explosion was deafening and demolished their cover. They were disoriented, and some wounded. The enemies began moving up and converged on their position, easily outnumbering them. "Phoenix We need Evac…..Immediate respon….." The voice cut out and faded. "Trilo 1-1 Respond!" No response was heard. "Trilo 1-1 Do you read me!?" No response…only static. "Phoenix, this is Titan Team, We are on the ground for Search and rescue of Trilo Squad...Mission Begin" An unknown Voice said…


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1 – Titan's Introduction **

**Firebase Phoenix, 30 Minutes earlier…..**

The base was on low alert, no problems, and no worries. A typical day at Firebase Phoenix. The base was a checkpoint for many, a supply point for some and the Air Forces task teams land their planes for mission briefing. It's a multi-purpose location, for the United States Military. It is also…the home of many special operations and Special Forces units, including Titan Team, one of the best Black Operations teams that the U.S. Military has at its disposal. In that team are six of the Best operators from around the world.

"Another Boring day…when the hell are we going to get a mission? We've been just sitting back at base all day doing nothing, some bull."

Said Titan teams light assault role, Sergeant Damian Vickers. He's a loud mouth, along with a rather always itchy trigger finger. He is the team's quick assault specialist, and is a vital part of the team. He carries a PDW-57 SMG with his back-up weapon being the Hawksman Pistol.

"You really need to cut that whining, Vickers. Maybe if you had some patience we will soon just you wait."

Said the teams Rifleman, Master Sergeant John Bishop. He's the team's General Purpose role, doing a mix of role types. He's level-headed and talks out of a conflict but in one he is the "Strong and Silent" type. His arsenal is comprised of an M8A1 Assault Rifle, Remington 870 MCS shotgun, and a M1911 special action handgun. He wasn't too farfetched with his quote.

"Yeah? And how are you so sure Bishop? Can you tell the friggin future? I think not and to be honest, who asked your opinion?" Vickers said in an annoyed tone. He figured Bishop was right but he wouldn't admit it.

"Well when you speak your thoughts out loud people will react to it with their response, smart-one. That's a little lesson and I know because we actually do now, I gotta get the rest of the team together so boss can tell us our next assignment. Let's go."

Vickers remained silent and followed Bishop, remaining quiet. He knew he lost that argument easily…They kept walking until they stopped at a barracks. Bishop knocked hardly on the door so it was very audible. He heard footsteps get louder as a person reached the door and slid open the eye hole to look out.

"What? I was sleeping Bishop this better be good." Said a slightly irritated female voice as she opened the door revealing a third member of the team. That'd be the team's sniper and designated marksman, Warrant Officer Lynnette "Yuya" Burner. She is a very skilled sniper and her marksmanship is that of legends. She is the team's spotter/recon intelligence and goes by the nickname "Yuya" instead of her name. She utilizes an M95 Anti-material sniper rifle and her secondary just in case targets get a little too close for comfort is the Masterson M-557 Automatic Shotgun.

"Hehe sorry about that Yuya but we got a mission and the boss wants me to rally the team so we can be briefed. I already got Vickers we're gonna get the other two. Get geared up and let's go we'll be waiting." Bishop said as he leaned on a wall next to the door. He was the patient type and was similar to a sniper in that sense.

"Alright give me a minute to get my stuff." She said walking back inside to change into uniform and get her gear together. She wasn't long and walked out covering her eyes from the sun.

"Geez, When does ever get this bright out here?" She said adjusting to the light. The area Firebase Phoenix is in is always cloudy or partially sunny. Today was cloudless. The three continued to walk and to pick up the next two members. They arrived at the mess hall and spotted member 4, the teams support gunner, First Sergeant Artyom Khar. A Former Spetsnaz now turned Black Operator who utilizes a PKP Pecheneg and Saiga 12 Shotgun. He seemed to be having trouble with a vending machine.

"Stupid thing give me my damn soda!" He yelled hitting the machine. It seemed he's really annoyed about this.

"Hey hey calm down man, you're gonna break it." Bishop said putting his hand on Artyoms shoulder. "Come on. The Boss needs us for something, I think we got a mission." He told him. "Agh, Fine lets go see what he wants, that vending machine is lucky this time." Artyom said giving the machine the "I have my eye on you" sign.

"hahaha, let's get going guys." Yuya said laughing at Artyom. They walked to the briefing room where the last two members of Titan were. The teams leader, Captain Marcus Arklite. He uses an AN-94 Assault Rifle and a modified Sigmus 9 Sub-Machine-Gun. Along with him, the teams second in command Second Liutenant Mason Blackburn. He is the teams Demolition specialist along with Second in command. The two were overlaying a map of a city and looked up at the four that entered the room.

"Glad you could join us Titan. Good work Bishop." Arklite said and motioned the team over to the map table.

"Sir, What is this we're seeing?" Vickers asked looking at the city plans. He noticed the many back alleys and medium sized construction sites. All four of them were inspecting the map.

"This is Yuktobania, An Erusean city that has recently been evacuated due to military efforts and is under enemy control. An allied recon team that was mapping the areas for friendly movements, called Trilo team requested an evac or reinforcements. This was their last transmission." He said pressing on an audio file trigger.

"Phoenix…..Immediate respon…." Was heard then soon after were gunshots.

"Our mission is to find Trilo teams Mapped data in their camp out location in the city, that's our main objective. Our secondary objective is the search and rescue of Trilo team if they're alive….or bag and tag to send home. Is that understood?" Blackburn briefed to the team.

They nodded. "Yes sir!" They all said. Arklite nodded and walked to the door that led to a heli-pad. On there was a black V-22 Osprey that started its engine and got ready to take off.

"then let's go! Everyone on the Osprey!" Blackburn yelled as the team walked aboard the Osprey. The large door that sealed off the inside began to close as the craft took off and flew to Yuktobania…


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2 – Insertion**

**Present Day, March 31****st****, 2029…**

The Osprey's rotors spun and propelled forward the large aircraft that carried Titan. The craft was very visible due it being Jet Black in the middle of the day but their insertion point wasn't near enemy locations so they would go un-noticed. The members of Titan team sat and checked their gear as they prepared themselves for the mission. The pilot of the osprey switched the propellers to helicopter mode and turned to the team.

"We will be landing in a few minutes, get ready guys!" He yelled to them. They stood up and grasped their weapons and shouldered their secondaries. The clicks and clacks of the magazines locking into the weapons they were made for were heard in the passenger bay and shuffling from them preparing their weapons and other gear. The large bay doors of the craft opened as they got close to the landing site. Outside those doors was the neighboring city, Estovakia. Estovakia was under allied control and has all of the civilians that had lived and visited there from before the allies arrived.

"Alright, when we get our boots on the ground we will look for the mapping data then see if the team is still alive! That mapping data is our primary objective! Understood?!" Captain Arklite had yelled to them as he walked to the end of the passenger bay. He readied his Assault rifle and flipped the safety off, making a loud click into the "Automatic" position on the fire selector.

"Understood, Sir!" The rest of the team had yelled. With weapons ready, Titan team ran off of the Osprey as it got close enough to the ground. They now had boots on the ground and set up in a Diamond formation covering all angles.

"Clear left!" Blackburn yelled sweeping the left side while crouched. "Clear right!" Yelled Artyom watching the street ahead of him, his finger gripping the trigger to the point of near firing the large weapon. "Back is Safe!" Vickers yelled as he stood up. Bishop, Arklite, and Yuya stood in the front of the group.

"Area secure, we're good but keep on point. We don't know where they could be hiding." Arklite said as he lowered his Rifle. "Phoenix, this is Titan Team, We are on the ground for Search and rescue of Trilo Squad's map data and Trilo themselves...Mission Begin" He said into his comm. "Uh copy that Titan, good luck we'll keep you posted in case we get updates. Phoenix out." The radio operator said.

"I'm gonna be dusting off. Good luck Titan, see you back at base guys." The pilot said as he closed the bay door. The Osprey began to lift into the air and turned back to base. Arklite waved the pilot off as he began to fly away. "Stay safe." He said turning forward. Blackburn took lead of the group and did a regroup motion.

"Come on we're Oscar Mike Titan we should be close to Trilo's camp out with the data." He said raising his weapon up cautiously. The team followed up and kept in a pace with him as they reached an intersection and surveyed the area. They took notice to the unfinished buildings and abandoned homes and stores.

"Look at this place, Thousands of people used to live their lives here every day…" Bishop said in slight sorrow.

"And now it's a ghost town. A shame to see a city in such a state." Artyom said following Bishop up. "Hey if the enemy had gotten close to our borders we'd probably evacuate New York just like they evacuated here, no one wants civie casualties." Vickers said calmly. He felt uneasy due to the deserted city block and closed buildings but stayed calm to keep his senses in check.

"We're coming up on our objective area, stay sharp." Arklite said breaking the conversation slightly. "After we find this data I'll recon to give a sit-rep and see if I can find a trace to that team." Yuya said with her Masterson drawn. "We'll see when we get the data." Arklite said in reply to Yuya. They had continued their search for the building and decided to cut through some of them. Building after building they searched in the area reported to hold Trilo's camp. The next building they searched was still under construction and Bishop noticed a line of power cable leading to room.

"Check this out, think we'll find anything if we follow this cable?" He asked stopping and looking to where it lead to. "Follow the cable Bishop. Artyom go with him in case it could be a trap. Everyone else stack up and set a position 'till they come back." Arklite said mounting his rifle on a stack of girders. "Yes sir, let's go Bishop." Artyom said pacing to Bishop. The two followed the cable through many unfinished rooms and sections of the building. They followed the cable until they reached a room with computers in it and sleeping bags.

"Titan 1-2 to Titan 1-1. I think we found that camp site, how copy?" Bishop said into his comm. "We read you 1-2, coming to you now. Standby." Arklite replied to Bishop. "Copy that." Bishop said as he walked to a laptop and began searching through its documents and found military labeled Document Files on them. The rest of the team entered the room and Blackburn walked to Bishop and peered over his shoulder.

"What're you lookin at?" He asked in curiosity. "Look, these are military document files; you've seen them before Black. I think we got what we're looking for." Bishop replied enthusiastically. He closed the laptop and unplugged it from the wall, taking the charger. He hands Arklite the laptop. "This has what we were sent for." He told him. Arklite nodded in approval. "Good work Bishop, I'll call it in and our secondary can begin." He said reaching for his comm.

"Phoenix this is Titan, Primary objective complete. Moving on to secondary." He reported in. "Good work Titan, secondary is a go, keep us posted, Phoenix out." The radio operator replied. "Now we gotta find that team." Vickers said stretching his legs. "And get them home" Yuya followed up on him. So far so good.


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3 – In the past…**

**March 31****st****, 2029…Two hours into Mission**

After retrieving the laptop and mapping data, The team began to move more into the city to Trilos last position. Yuya followed through with what she had said earlier and moved out before anybody else to scout out and check the outer areas. She prefers to go alone because she doesn't want to endanger any of her comrades if it hits the fan.

"I'll keep you guys posted if there are any signs of enemy activity." She said jogging off into the distance. "Good hunting Yuya." Bishop said semi-saluting. Bishop knew Yuya before enlisting into the military since sophomore year in high school. They both hold a high respect for each other because of that.

"Alright we're moving into dangerous territory, stay sharp and if we get engaged…weapons free." Arklite said. "If they shoot first, you're allowed to fire back and take hostile actions against them." Blackburn said. He really wasn't the talkative type and mainly spoke when it was necessary. He stuck to his role, second in command. He doesn't really make small talk.

"I'm sure we'll figure who's hostile or not Black…" Arklite said with a hand resting on the hand-guard of his AN-94. They continued to move further on and reached the Yuktobanian border. Once they cross this they'll be in Yuktobania…enemy territory.

"Hey boss, I got a question." Vickers finally spoke up breaking the silence held for almost their entire venture into the city…about an hour. "Yeah? And what would that be Damian?" Arklite responded. He never knew Vickers too long but called some by their first name.

"You got anybody waiting back home for you? I mean there's gotta be someone." He asked walking next to the captain. Vickers wasn't the best conversation holder but he tried sometimes.

"I was wondering when someone would ask…you want to know the truth alright then. Back home I got a wife and two children waiting for me. I remember the day I left years ago…" he said as he began retelling the event.

**-July 7****th****, 2024-**

Marcus Arklite was walking in his neighborhood that he and his family have moved into for specific reasons. He approached his front door and walked in, it was around eight o' Clock. He went upstairs and walked into his son's bedroom to tell him goodnight.

"Hey dad, I want to give you something!" He yelled before jumping onto his bed. "Haha, alright son what is it?" He asked sitting next to his son smiling. The child reached over under his pillow and pulled out a small gold coin, engraved "Worlds best dad" one its side. He reached over and handed it to his father.

"Here dad, I got this for you yesterday." His son said happily. Marcus smiled and took the coin. "Thank you Adam. Alright now you have to go to bed you got school tomorrow." He said to his son as he stood up and tucked him into bed. "Goodnight dad." His son said. He knew his father was leaving that night but kept his spirit high, he knew his dad will come back. "Goodnight." He said flipping the bedroom light off and closing the door. He then walked to his daughter's room. He walked in to the sight of his daughter sitting on her bed waiting for him. He sat down next to her and layed her down.

"Daddy, what's a war?" She asked her father curiously. He was shocked to hear that. He cleared his throat and decided to tell her. "Well, war…isn't a good thing you see. Um, war is when two countries have differences with each other and don't like one-another and they fight about those differences. That fighting leads to people dying and people like daddy have to take out the bad people." He said taking a pause.

"Will the bad people try to kill you dad?" she asked stopping him. "They'll try to, but they won't do that trust me." He said smiling. "Alright look now you have to go to bed, goodnight." He said to his daughter. He left the room and proceeded to him and wife's bedroom. He entered and layed down on his bed.

"You're really going to do this? You know you don't have to honey." His wife said to him. Yeah I know but they requested me and no-one else is fit enough for the job." He said to her clearing his throat. He had to leave soon. "Well, just don't get yourself killed out there then, I don't want to the kids to find out their dad died." She told him as she turned to him. "You know I will, I promise." He said to her getting close to her. The two kissed and she looked into his eyes.

"You better follow by that promise. Don't make promises if you can't keep them." She said smiling. He just laughed and layed back down. He went to sleep that night happy…

That night at about 2 in the morning he woke back up. He put on his uniform and left saying his last goodbyes while everyone was asleep. He geared up and left the house, he walked through the night neighborhood as many more people in his unit followed behind him to the nearby military base. They stopped at the large field of that base as helicopters came blasting through the night sky. He, along with seventy-thousand other soldiers rode along on those helicopters to their new home for the next five years, Nordennavic. Yuktobania is in Nordennavic, and where the war front is….

-**Back to present…3 hours into mission- **

Arklite finished his long tale of the day he left home to fight for his country…to win this war. The entire team was shocked, including Yuya who listened in through the comms.

"Wow, that's crazy…" Vickers said. He was speechless at that little story.

"Sorry to break story time but I think I found where that team got taken…that building has a crater, from a grenade…remember the transmission?" Yuya said scoping the area out for any targets. The rest of the team quickly readied themselves. Yuya set a marker for Arklite's GPS.

"Get ready for some action; we got contacts covering the area." She said locking the bolt of her M95, chambering a round with an audible clunk. Arklite marked the Coordinates on his wrist GPS. He began running full speed motioning the team to follow him as it began to rain, pouring down on the streets.

"Let's Go! Let's get our boys back home then out of this damn place!" He yelled as the rest of the team followed him. It's time they fight…


	5. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4 – Discovery**

They ran two, maybe three city blocks. Boots splashing in large puddles made by the down pouring rain before stopping near an intersection. Arklite motioned to a wall as he ran a little faster.

"Stack up and hold steady!" He yelled to them making a dead stop slapping his body against the wall, making a clap mixed with thud kind of noise. The rest of the team followed suit and lined up on the wall. Arklite peered around the corner to make an observation. He saw Nordennavic soldiers surrounding what appears to be a partially destroyed garage, the destruction appearing to be caused by a grenade.

"We found our building, let's move up and get a better look. The rain is our cover, we can move without being detected." He said facing the rest of the team. "I see you guys; around that corner you got three contacts. They're not even paying attention. I'll keep an eye on the rest guys." Yuya said into the comm. She is located on an elevated rooftop of a now abandoned hotel. "Copy that Yuya, keep us posted. Out." Arklite said. "Will do Titan, will do." She replied scoping the surrounding area.

"Silent takedowns, Black, Bishop. I'll take the first one you guys take the other two. Knives only." Arklite said unsheathing his SOG Knife on his shoulder, Bishop unhooked his KA-BAR from his chest sheath; Blackburn pulled his Boker plus Armed from his leg holster. The three turned the corner. They began speeding up their walk into a steady jog then run as they slammed the three enemy soldiers onto the pavement and drove the knives into each hostiles back area of the neck…silencing the three. Bishop took the knife out and stood up motioning the other two to move up. Artyom stepped over one of the dead bodies.

"Sweet dreams bastards." He grunted moving past them. The five were next to piles of rubble from the soldiers demolishing the surrounding buildings. Artyom mounted his PKP on a pile of rubble that gave good cover and a concealed position. "I'll provide suppressing fire from here when the action begins." He said pulling the charging handle back on his weapon, racking a cartridge into the chamber and unlocking the safety. "Alright, it'll begin soon big man don't you wait." Vickers said laughing lightly.

Arklite brought his AN-94 up to his shoulder and aimed forward, beginning to walk forward. "Let's go." He said. Night draws in, the moon at the peak of the sky. The members of Titan blend perfectly with their jet black uniforms and match the shadows. After moving around the general area, the final four of titan meet back up with Artyom at his position.

"Things are about to get interesting." Bishop said as Arklite took over before Artyom could respond. "The enemy is placed in this intersection and most of their forces are out here in the open. The target building has the highest concentration surrounding it. Inside is less occupied and should be easy to move through." He said pointing towards the vantage points.

"Yuya, take the first shot to start this up." Arklite said into his comm. "Ahead of you sir. Firing…now." She said as she pulled the trigger of the heavy caliber sniper rifle. A large explosion erupted from the rifles barrel as the .50 Caliber projectile flew at extremely high speeds into the shoulder of a guard, making his shoulder rip open as blood spurted out of the open wound. The projectile continued and was stopped by a fuel tank, causing an even louder explosion throwing the other guards off track as rubble debris came falling down from the explosions dust cloud.

"That's our chance! Attack!" Bishop yelled jumping up firing his M8A1 in full auto. As the bullets began firing, a bellowing sound exited the rifle as fired on the group. Artyom took this chance and began suppressing the enemy, his Light machine gun just tearing up any form of cover the enemy has as shells come raining from the large weapon. Blackburn followed suit and focused on elevated positions in case the enemy tries to get the jump on them. The enemy, now confused at the attack and dazed by the explosion, manage to start firing back to Titan. Unleashing streams of bullets back to them. Vickers began barreling his way through the hail of enemy and friendly fire and managed to push around to a flanking position, spraying down the hostiles out of cover with his PDW-57. Arklite moved toward the target building with Bishop, laying down 2-shot bursts with his rifle reaching a stable area to take cover. "RELOADING!" Bishop and Arklite yelled slapping new magazines into their weapons and priming them. Yuya cycled the bolt of her M95 and fired another round, destroying a fuel truck and killing more encamped hostiles. She picked out the stragglers trying to flank the team with extreme precision, not missing a single shot. The action began dying down as the enemy began retreating.

"Form up on me!" Arklite yelled moving his way to a closed building door. Bishop got on the door and removed the R870 from his back and pumped it locking a breaching shell in the shotgun.

"Breaching Breaching!" He said firing at the door hinges. After blowing the hinges off he kicked the door in, only to be greeted by a hostile rushing to him with a knife drawn. Bishop steps back and dodges the slash at him, grabs the wrist holding the knife and before the soldier could react, Bishop twists his arm and breaks it before Arklite finishes the unlucky bastard with a bullet to the brain. Bishop grabs the body as it falls toward him and throws it aside.

"Thanks for the assist." He says pulling his M8 out checking the hall ways. "Hallway clear, there's one more door. Vickers help me here." He said as Vickers followed up and the two began attempting to break the door down. Breaching shells wouldn't work and they didn't bring breaching charges.

"Artyom come with me, we're gonna check out that garage." Arklite said leaving the hallway making his way to the auto shop garage. He enters through the large hole in the garage door from a grenade and is horrified at the sight. Artyom follows and looks away immediately.

"Holy shit, one grenade did this?" Arytom asked turning to the carnage. "What're you seeing in there?" Yuya asked. "You don't want to know." Arklite responded. What was in the garage were what's left of two dead bodies, the rest being spread on the walls. One individual appeared to have lost his arm and his legs severed from the torso. The other missing a leg and his side torn open. From what the two could see, they had American flag patches on their sleeves.

"Phoenix, we found two of Trilo, they didn't make it." Arklite said into his comm. "Copy Titan, retrieve their tags and search for the rest of the team, there should be three more. How copy?" The radio operator responded. "Copy, Phoenix, Titan out." Arklite said as he retrieved the dog tags from both of the two members of Trilo and read them. They read:

-Michael Perns, Boston Massachusetts, December 12, 2000-

On one and the other -

-Louis Francis, San Diego California, November 6, 2002-

"Rest in Peace, you two." Artyom and Arklite said before leaving the garage, and before losing their dinner, they walked out to get some air. Blackburn came running out; Yuya was seen bolting to where the three were to meet up with the team.

"You gotta see this, come on." Blackburn said walking back into the building. Yuya peeked into the garage and got sick from the site. She, along with the rest of the team have seen bad but this is the worst they've seen in awhile. The four walked in to see Bishop and Vickers, untying three individuals from chairs and laying them on the floor. All three had American patches on them. They had small cuts, but appear to have interrogated by the enemy hence their state. One of them managed to utter something before falling asleep on the floor of that room.

"Who….who are you?" he said before blacking out. "Your ticket out of here that's who." Vickers said standing up and leaning on a wall. "Phoenix, we found the final three members of Trilo squad. Requesting immediate pickup, over." Bishop said into his comm before Arklite could. "Copy Titan, we will be sending two Skyhawks to get them and you back to base for De-briefing and a little R&R. Mission accomplished, good work Titan." The radio operator said in a happy tone. Artyom closed the door and slid to the floor, resting his head against a wall.

"And now we wait…" he said before passing out from exhaustion, along with a good portion of Titan except Blackburn, Yuya, and Arklite. Let the waiting game begin…


	6. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5 – Burning Black**

**-April 1****st****, 2029… Six and a half hours into mission.-**

The night continued on, the storm lessening down as time passed. Arklite, Yuya, and Blackburn stepped out of the small building and made a small watch point on the top of the garage, which is now shut and sealed away to conceal the disturbing sight inside. The three set up over-watch for a few hours and was mostly silent.

"I think I'll try and get some rest. We got a long day ahead of us right? See you in the morning." Yuya said as she waved and hopped off of the small rooftop. She walked inside the building, closed the door and passed out on her own section of the room opposite of the interrogation site of Trilo's three surviving members, who were knocked out cold.

"How do you think we managed to get all the way out here to fight a newly formed country? It doesn't seem like the new ones around would want to cause trouble, then again, peace doesn't last forever huh?" Arklite asked Blackburn facing him. Blackburn turned from gazing upon the ghost city to looking at Arklite.

"I don't know…maybe they wanted a way to escape their own problems…since they're now establishing cities, government, and other things this far in the progression of our history, we've done that before." He responded in a monotone voice, an emotionless one as well. Not much conversation continued after that, back and forth questions from Arklite to Blackburn.

"One last question, Mason. Then I'll shut up." Arklite said, calling Blackburn by his first name. "And that would be?" Blackburn responded looking directly at Arklite.

"What's the reason that you don't try and get associated with the other team members, talk to them back at base on rest days? You've been a part of the team for awhile now and I was wondering why haven't you at least talked to someone else in the team?" He asked. Blackburn went from just looking in Arklite's direction to a direct stare. "Do you really want to know?" He asked. Arklite nodded slowly. Blackburn sighed slightly and shook his head

"Alright then, it will take some time." Blackburn said sitting up straight. "As long as I find out what happened it's fine, take as long as you'd like." Arklite said. Blackburn breathed in deeply and began to tell his story.

**-August 15, 2025-**

**Northern Nordennavic, 1 year after the beginning of the Ameri-Norden war…**

Sergeant Mason Blackburn, before becoming the second in command of Titan team, was in Vector Squad of the United States Marine Corps. The squad was stationed in the Northern Nordennavic area, a far distance from Yuktobania and Estovakia. America moved into Nordennavic through Uzbekistan, from the north. Vector was on a recon mission through the city of Wielvakia. The American squad comprised of 14 able bodied soldiers, all of which know each-other well enough and are a true Band of Brothers.

As the team entered the city with two Transport Humvees a few of them stepped out and formed around the two vehicles patrolling the area. With the windows down the lead driver turned on the radio and played some music from home, "Back in Black" By ACDC. The driver turned up the radio and Mason Blackburn stepped out of his humvee to walk with the rest of the group.

"Hey it's about time you stepped out Mason! Thought you'd be sitting in there forever!" Yelled Blackburn's old friend, Jack Bishop, John Bishop's older brother. "Haha, well I didn't want to stay relaxing all the way through." Blackburn said laughing, his hand on his rifle.

"So why do you think command wants us to check this area out? I thought it was a neutral area?" Jack asked. Wielvakia was considered a non-hostile city under Friendly control. "Suspicious activity by local militia probably. No-one really knows." Their friend, Corporal James Spell pitched in on the conversation. "So they decide to send us in the shit blind eyed, how nice of our leaders." Said the Sergeant Kyle Walkin, the driver of the lead Humvee. "Hell, we may actually get some action for a change." Piped in James.

As they continued trailing on they reached a cross-walk and a group of school kids were waiting to cross the street, the no walk sign up with quite a bit of traffic in sight on the oncoming lane, the soldiers decide to let them cross the street. Mason, Jack, James, and another member of Vector, Micheal Schutz decided to play cross guard.

"Come on everyone, hurry on across!" Micheal said in a calm but loud tone to the children, the kids crossed in a fast manner, all of which thanking the soldiers. "Thank you mister." One of the kids said to Micheal, he smiled and nodded. After the kids crossed the light turned green and they continued trailing through the city. "hey Micheal, if you wanted to help people in other countries why didn't you just become a humanitarian?" asked Chuck Fester, the gunner on the lead Humvee. "Kiss my ass Chuck haha, it's not like we're on a clock or anything!" He yelled to Chuck, everyone in the squad laughed at his reply, including Blackburn. Their laughter would be cut short by an extremely loud crack and a bullet just grazes Blackburn's ear, making a loud ZING noise.

"Sniper Fire, Sniper fire! Take cover, take cover!" Blackburn Yelled bolting behind the Humvee. The other members of Vector did similar searching for cover as enemy fire came Whizzing by their heads. "AMBUSH!" Micheal yelled at the top of his voice, propping himself above his cover and firing back in the direction of the enemy fire. "Who's the Jackass that wanted action for a change?!" Jack yelled out reloading his rifle.

"Shut up!" James yelled nervously. "There's a sniper in that damn hotel! I'm thinkin he's 14 stories up! Chuck Get some fucking suppressing fire on that building!" The squad's leader, Lieutenant Derrick Stauger yelled. "Anybody got an AT4? We can blow that fucker out of his spider hole!" Exclaimed Sergeant Brennon Knight. "Black! You got one! Get over here we'll cover!" Jack yelled to Blackburn. At that moment the gunners of both humvees were laying covering fire to lessen the enemy kill-zone. Blackburn moved from behind the lead humvee over to a partially destroyed road separator, next to Jack. Blackburn unshouldered his AT4 rocket launcher and flipped the safety off, making mechanical clicks. "Clear your back-blast, you ready?" Micheal asked, locking the bolt of his rifle. Mason nodded and everyone at the wall got on a knee and readied their rifles. The two gunners stopping their fire to get out of the humvees. Kyle tuned the radio into a military channel and broadcast their situation.

"Control, this is Vector squad! We are encountering heavy gunfire from enemy soldiers! We have no KIA or wounded but wish to take actions against them and a sniper they have emplaced in a far-off building!" Kyle yelled into the comm. "we hear you Vector, we are in a war sergeant, you fire on anyone you view hostile and anything that fires upon you you fire back." The radio operator responded, giving them the go to take action against the enemy forces. "You are free to fire, free to fire!" Kyle yelled over Blackburn.

"Alright, 3, 2, 1, SUPPRESING!" Jack yelled as he, along with everyone else in Vector unloaded the building with heavy Small arms fire, sounding like a symphony of guns and rifles bursting hot lead into the building, Blackburn stood up as the chaos went on and released the fire button on the green rocket launcher, a loud eruption came from the launcher as the propelled rocket flew out the tube and zoomed to the building leaving a white smoke trail in its wake, the rocket then smacked into the building and the warhead went off, making a large explosion that, along with eliminating the sniper, shakes the ground slightly before a large section of the side came crashing down onto the sidewalk and road ahead, also lessening the ground forces resistance. The squad reloaded their rifles and stood up.

"Good affect on target, snipers gone." Blackburn said. "Yeah, and the fuckers on the ground." Micheal pointed out. "Let's get out of here. Kyle! Radio for evac, hostile threat is neutralized." Derrick ordered Kyle.  
"Control, we have eliminated current hostile threat, requesting reinforcements, possibly pick-up." Kyle reported back control. "we read you guys, we'll send in a sea knight to come pick you and your vehicles, E.T.A. 4 hours and counting." The radio operator back at the base responded. "Alright, let's dig in and wait for that pickup, it looks like we got company!" Jack yelled pointing towards a large group of enemy forces converging on their location. The entire squad entered the trucks and sped off over to a now closed market due to the action earlier. The trucks barreled through the closed vendors sending items flying. The team cleared enough distance from the opposition and found a stable place to set up shop.

"Set up blocking positions!' Derrick said as he got out his Humvee to mark where things would go, the squad had move a large amount of crates, barrels, and even the Humvees were set up to make cover for them, an hour passed and it was silent.

"You think we lost them?" Kyle asked with his rifle drawn, looking around.

"Oh calm down Kyle." Chuck told him. Chuck was sitting atop one of the Humvees with his hand on the light machine gun that he used, it was an M240B that he mounted on the top of the truck in place of the more powerful, but cumbersome M2 .50 Caliber heavy machine gun, the trade off made sense to Chuck, Power trade for rate of fire and higher maneuverability. The second gunner, who kept the M2 on his Humvee was Terrence Lasky, a quiet man who fits the criteria for the silent warrior, but he does speak in battle or if someone wants to talk to him. He was exchanging ammo boxes from the interior of his Humvee, and checking the bolt to see if it ran smoothly.

Another hour passed. Nothing happened, it was quiet with only two hours to go until they'd be heading back to base. It was mostly quiet but every now and then someone would start a short conversation, talking about back home, telling childhood stories, and other small tales to each other…until the sounds of tank treads were heard approaching, and getting louder.

"Is that our tank?" James asked. "No, friendlies aren't in the area yet for another two hours." Jack said investigating the sound and peering through a hole in a wall showing the street on the other side, a terrifying scene was ahead, two heavy tanks and quite a few ground troops were coming. The enemy knew where they were. A tank turned the main turret to the wall Jack was peering through.

"TANKS! Get the Fuck down! He yelled as he dove for the ground and that moment, the tank shot a round through the wall and penetrated with ease, still traveling until it hit a Humvee, Terrence's Humvee. The large truck after being hit by the tank Sabot round was knocked over onto its side before catching fire and exploding…killing Terrence and three others. "We got Casualties! Open fire open fire!" Micheal yelled as he opened fire on the troops, taking a few down before going back into cover. "Someone Get the other AT4 from the 'Vee!" Jack yelled standing up and darting for cover behind a Concrete wall. Blackburn sprinted to the Humvee at full force making loud, audible footsteps and reached into the back of the truck and grabbed the last rocket launcher from the back seat.

"Shit, there's only One!" Blackburn yelled before unlocking the launcher and sliding over to some rubble. "You're gonna have to make it count!" Kyle yelled before looking up from his position and firing his rifle, the sounds of bullet casings hitting the ground were barely heard due to the extreme amount of gunfire being exchanged between the Allied forces and the enemy soldiers. Blackburn lined up the shot and fired at the tank, upon hitting the tank through the barrel of the turret a loud bellow was heard and the first tank and all of its ammunition, was destroyed. The explosion was so large it knocked a tread off of the second tank, immobilizing it in full.

"Good fucking job Mason! Great effect that damn tank won't get us now." Jack exclaimed in slight joy. "That second ones gun is still operational! We need a distraction so someone can get a 'nade in the tank!" Kyle yelled entering the driver seat of the Humvee, along with five other members of Vector, James, and Micheal, The other three being Sergeant John Nichols, Corporal Louis Martin, and Private 1st Class Richard Sanders. The five jumped in the Humvee along with Kyle and the Humvees Engine roared as it revved up and sped off into the street, some were leaning out the windows while one provided suppressing fire. Micheal, Nichols, and James jumped out of the Humvee before the tank aimed its turret at the truck, and fired. Destroying the Humvee and making it roll numerous times before making a loud bang hitting the Asphalt.

"KYLE!" Mason and Jack yelled. They were too late to help, the final three rushed up to the tank and Micheal climbed it popping the hatch that lead to the cabin open and throwing a grenade into it. Micheal jumped off and the three ran away before the explosion and the tank blew up as a large black smoke cloud began forming out of the top. Nichols separated from the trio and pushed the enemy soldiers firing his rifle at the group, he did score a few kills but his effort was, fruitless. He was gunned down by another group of soldiers, he wasn't seen at that instance.

As the battle went on Micheal and James Burrowed themselves in a partially destroyed store, they were getting heavily suppressed, Chuck had unmounted his M240 from the Humvee prior to this encounter and had it in his hands, now mobile with the Machine Gun.

"I'm going to go help them out!" Chuck yelled mantling over a partially destroyed wall and running his way across the street. "Fuck, He's not doing this alone!" Derrick said before he himself hopped the wall and ran across the street. "No! What're you doing!?" Mason yelled calling to the two, he knew Micheal and James were screwed and it'd be worthless to try and assist them, "It was their choice to go out there and cause a distraction from the tank." Mason thought to himself. Jack took a pair of Binoculars out and watched Chuck and Derrick attempt to flank the enemy soldiers, it was a fair move that lessened the fire being rained down on Micheal and James, but even more enemy reinforcements showed up and Jack couldn't track Chuck or Derrick, they wouldn't respond to radio either. "Fuck! I think we lost 'em!" Jack said punching a wall. Mason grabbed the Binoculars from Jack and looked to where Micheal and James were, an enemy soldier primed a grenade and threw it into the store the two were hiding in, they jumped out just barely in time. James was wounded from shrapenel and was gunned down when he attempted to stand up and fight, Micheal got up and began sprinting to Jack and Mason. They Raised their rifles and provided covering fire while Micheal made his way to them, Micheal was hit in the leg right at the wall and the two pulled him over, continuing to lay cover fire.

"Jesus Christ and the all-mighty, we lost everyone! These bastards killed us!" Micheal yelled propping himself up, groaning in pain from his wound. He began breathing heavily to catch his breath. Jack began covering the wound with some medical tape, the bullet cut straight through so it would be an easy patch up.

"How much longer until that damn evac?" Jack asked Mason and Micheal after covering the wound. "Another thirty minutes, they should be in radio contact soon." Mason replied before firing bursts from his rifle into oncoming soldiers, the shells hitting the floor faster than the bodies of the fallen foes. "soon is not enough, we need them now!" Micheal yelled in a demanding tone. Mason kept gunning down soldiers and groups of enemy reinforcements. "Calm down man we just gotta hold out a little longer!" Jack told him before joining Mason on the cover fire.

"Vector squad this Sea-Knight Tekna 1-1! What is your situation?!" The Sea-Knight pilot asked into the radio. It was a glimpse of hope for the three survivors. "This is Vector! We are pinned down and there are only three of us still standing! Where the fuck are you?!" Mason responded. "We hear you loud and clear Vector, we are five minutes out! you said there's only three of you left? Can you confirm, how copy?" The pilot asked in response. "Copy Tekna 1-1, Three of us still standing and one of us is wounded! You think you can speed up and lessen that time window? We are deep in shit now and getting rushed by a whole hive of Nordees!" Mason responded before re-opening fire on the soldiers. "Copy that Vector! Make it two mikes! You got that? Two Minutes we'll be there mark the LZ with smoke!" The pilot yelled. The three looked to each other, Mason took a blue smoke grenade from his grenade pouch and tossed it into a clearing where vendors in the market were. "Tekna 1-1, we marked the Pickup-Zone with blue smoke! Repeat blue smoke is the PZ!" Mason yelled into his comm. to the pilot as he stood up. Jack had lifted Micheal up and put Micheal's arm around his shoulder and in Micheal's other hand is his side-arm. The three moved to where the smoke slightly covered and took cover, still being fired upon of course. Jack rested Micheal next to a vendor that provided good cover. Jack handed him pistol magazines.

"Vector you got one minute, repeat one minute to extraction we see the blue smoke!" the pilot yelled. "Copy that Tekna! Shit, Grenade!" Mason yelled as a grenade hit his feet, Mason dashed and jumped out of the blast radius, Jack…wasn't so lucky. Mason jumped up, dazed but saw clear enough to see Jack sprawled on the floor, bleeding from the chest due to shrapenel. He was gasping for air and Mason sat him up, Jack coughed up blood.

"No, no, no, no, Jack don't die on me! We made it this far!" Mason yelled. Jack looked at him. "Mason, I won't…..make it….home." He said coughing, straining his breathing like a fish without water. "No you'll make it Damnit! You got your family back home! Your brother!" Mason said to him. "Look, I want….you to give….my brother this….if you meet him…please." He pleaded to Mason while grabbing a bent up and slightly bloodied envelope from his chest pocket, handing him the envelope. "Please…give this….to him." Jack said coughing profusely now between words. Enemy soldiers closed in and came into view of Mason, he drew his sidearm and killed some but more came, Mason ran out of ammo but They began dropping even after Mason ran out. It was Micheal. "I got ya covered Mason!" He said as he layed on his stomach providing cover fire with the side-arm. At that moment the Sea-Knight came barreling through the skyand turned to open fire on the ground troops, the enemy forces retreated as the helicopter landed.

"Mason…it…was great….knowing…you…and….everyone…else….here…hehe….Live…long…after…this….war…" Jack said his final words before he stopped coughing as his head drooped over to the side and he stopped breathing. Mason, with awestruck in him turned away from him and sat down. The large helicopter let off Allied reinforcements and they cleared the area of hostiles, two medics loaded Micheal onto the helicopter and one ran to Mason to be greeted by the sight, Mason covered part of his face with his partially bloodied hand and turned his body to take Jack's dog-tag off of him and placed it in the envelope.

"What the hell happened here Sergeant?" The medic asked Mason, he gave him a stern look before covering his best-friend with a body cover. "What the fuck do you think?" Mason responded before walking onto the helicopter and sitting down. The medics loaded the recoverable KIAs of Vector and Mason Retrieved all of their tags before the medics could…He would never be the way he was before this event….

**-April 1****st****, 2029- Eight and a half hours into mission…**

"Damn…I'm sorry Mason." Arklite Mustered up. Blackburn looked at him. "That's why I don't talk to anyone or make friends with my units…They all Fucking die! Even Micheal, He bled out before we reached the base!" Blackburn yelled in a very strained voice, a tear ruptured from his eye as he looked down. He jumped off of the roof and walked into the buiding and fell asleep. Arklite said nothing to him for that. He looked off to the distance and saw the sun begin to rise.

"we're all going home, soon…soon" He said to himself, evac's near a few more hours and they'll be out of there….


	7. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6 – Exfil**

**12 Hours into mission…**

The sun had risen hours ago; no one had waken up yet. Arklite watched as the sun rose. He was thinking…about his home, his family, and the people in his team, the others. His thoughts were interrupted by the extremely faint sound of helicopter rotary blades. He then heard a crack on his radio.

"Titan team, this is Venator 1-1, the pickup chopper for those survivors. Do you copy? Respond, over." The helicopter pilot said as Arklite stood up and dropped from the roof and entered the small building where everyone was sleeping.

"This Titan, hear you loud and clear Venator. You said for the survivors, what about the rest of the team? There's six of us that need Evac." He responded loud and clearly into his comm. he was loud enough to wake Vickers.

"Captain, what's all the noise for?" Vickers asked slightly annoyed from being awoken. Arklite put a finger up as a response to say "hold on." To him, and he turned around.

"Venator 1-2 will be picking you and your team up Captain Arklite. We have a medical complement on-board here so you guys wouldn't be able to fit all of each other on-board, however 1-2 is running rather late due to fuel tank problems but things are sorted out now and they're not too far off from us." The pilot said as the helicopter seemed to be getting more audible even inside the building, which did have thin walls, probably the reason why. "Understood, Venator. We'll get our gear together and the survivors ready for transport by the time you get here. Titan out." Arklite responded.

"Roger Titan, turn on your IFF tags and find a good landing zone." The pilot worded in before radio silence. Arklite looked towards Vickers, who was now standing and re-fitting his gear. Arklite picked up his sidearm and pointed it to the ceiling, and fired as the low caliber weapon made a loud bang inside the room and everyone jumped awake, including Artyom who is a rather heavy sleeper and the survivors.

"Geez Luis what the fuck!?" Vickers yelled slightly jumping from the sudden and loud sound. "What is this all about?" Bishop asked Arklite shaking himself fully awake and beginning to stand so he could stretch. "Yeah what the hell? Was that necessary?" Yuya followed up, she hated being forced awake. Artyom and Blackburn jumped awake but kept their comments to themselves and stood up to stretch and wake fully.

"Med-evac and evac is almost here. Get set and ready to go. We're leaving today, in the hour on the hour. Understood?" Arklite briefed them and asked. He holstered his pistol and walked out the door, pressing a button to turn on his IFF tag, the sound of the helicopter getting closer and easier to hear. Everyone stepped out along with the survivors carrying the third survivor; he couldn't walk correctly due to fragmentation wounds to his ankle and calf. They locked and loaded their weapons and began to move to a large city block in front of a skyscraper that provided a great, open pickup zone.

"Venator 1-1, we are at pick up site, awaiting your arrival." Arklite said getting on a knee. The troop transport helicopter soon came into view, a Black and Grey color scheme to it. The pilot radioed in that he saw the team. The helicopter circled the landing zone and hovered above for a few seconds before it's decent to the ground. As it landed the passenger doors slid open and revealed three medical care soldiers with stretchers spread across the inside. That was the reason behind two pickup helicopters. The members of Titan loaded the three survivors onto the helicopter and the medics shut the doors as the helicopter began to lift off.

"See you guys back at Pheonix, Venator 1-1 out." The pilot said as the helicopter soon left the teams view. "Something doesn't feel right; this shit seems too easy for an exfil." Vickers said looking around the area suspiciously. "Yeah, he's got a point. This doesn't sit well right now." Yuya followed up. It was rather quiet, an eerie quiet. The silence however, was broken by a crack in a radio.

"Titan team, this is Venator 1-2, your ride home is here." The pilot of the teams evacuation helicopter said, it came from behind a building as if from nowhere and flew above the team, which was waiting for this evac. Bishop took one quick look and noticed something…odd. It was an Anti-Air weapon pointed towards the helicopter.

"Watch it Venator! Missile, Missile!" Bishop yelled waving the helicopter to move but it was too late, the missile had been launched and soared through the sky and made direct contact with the pilots cabin, killing the pilots and destroying the front of the helicopter. The helicopter lit up into a large fireball and exploded into many hundreds of pieces as the larger sections separated and hit the ground, digging holes into the cement and concrete as they make contact.

"AMBUSH!" Artyom and Bishop yelled dashing for cover. The rest of the team followed suit and fell behind large slabs of concrete that fell from the tall buildings behind them. "So much for Quiet!" Vickers yelled popping up out of cover to fire some rounds from his weapon. "Vickers get down! You're going to get hit damnit!" Arklite yelled pulling Vickers down. "Phoenix this is Titan, our evac is fucked and we need an alternate evac plan!" Arklite yelled into his comm. informing the firebase their situation.

"Did you get the survivors to the extraction?" The radio operator asked. "Affirmative, Survivors were the first out and they're far from here. Our extraction chopper is down! Repeat, Venator 1-2 is down!" Arklite responded in distress. "Copy that Titan, we're trying to find a solution, standby." The radio operator said. "We won't be able to standby for much longer at this rate!" Bishop yelled propping his rifle on the large slab to fire it. It was a massive ambush, crossfire from the building to the left and the parking garage to the right. On the ground in front of them were many enemy soldiers.

"Holy shit, The Nordies can put up a fight!" Yuya yelled trying to position her rifle; it wasn't an easy task considering the M95s massive size. "We need to get to a better area, covers getting rope-y!" Vickers said, Arklite searched around the places behind them, there were a few options, a Diner not too far off, a store that looked like it provided good cover, and an extremely hardware store that they could lose the enemy in. the hardware store was the closest, and possibly their best option.

"Alright, see that hardware store!?" Arklite yelled to the team, they all turned to the massive building, they knew the plan he wanted to do. They gave him a nod meaning "alright let's do this." Arklite stood up.

"On three we move, got it?!" He yelled. "Got it man! Let's get the fuck out of here!" Vickers yelled readying himself. "One! Two!...THREE GO GO GO!" Arklite yelled as he stepped forward and the group followed with their backs to the store, they unloaded all of the ammunition in their magazines in different directions, creating a large cover fire wall. Bullets were whizzing and zooming past them as the quickly walked to the store. The team made good progress, nearly at the front door, Arklite and Blackburn ran to the door and attempted to pry open the normally automatic doors. The rest of the team soon reached the door as well and kneeled down, still firing in many directions. Arklite and Blackburn finally managed to pry the door open with much force, nearly losing their balance from how fast it slid open in their hands.

"Door's open let's go!" Arklite said tapping the shoulders of everybody and signaling them in. one by one the rest of the team got up and stepped in, Artyom was the last one out there and was raining fire all over the place. He knew the door was open. "Artyom, Get inside now!" Artyom got up and jogged to the door, but before he stepped in a bullet struck his leg, tearing its way through his thigh. He cringed in pain and fell over.

"Chert vozʹmi ublyudok!" Artyom Cursed in Russian, he took one hand and grabbed his leg, the other reached for his sidearm as he opened fire, as if it would do anything. Arklite and Bishop rushed to him and grabbed him, they dragged Artyom in and Blackburn slid the door back shut. Bishop held onto Artyom and stood him up alongside himself. "I got you man." He told Artyom. Arklite looked around and saw a door leading to a storage room.

"There!" he pointed to the entry way. "We can hole up in that storage room. Let's go." He said jogging to the door and cautiously opened it, making a creaking noise. It was void of people and that was a good thing, he flipped the light switch and motioned the team over. Everybody trotted in quickly, Bishop and Artyom were the last two that got in. Bishop propped him in front of a pallet of cement bags to sit him up. Vickers began examining the wound. Blackburn locked the door behind them as Arklite looked at Artyom and kneeled in front of him.

"When I give the order to go somewhere, you follow it! Otherwise this shit happens! Understood!?" Arklite yelled at the in-pain Artyom. He cares about his unit; he doesn't want anybody to die under his command, much like his care for his family.

"Understood, sir." Artyom mustered as he gritted his teeth in pain, the wound burned as Vickers examined it further. "Good, Damian make sure that wound doesn't get worse." Arklite commanded. "Got it Marcus." Vickers responded.

"Phoenix, what's the status on the new extraction?" Arklite radioed in.

"Negative Titan, we can't send in any evac units. You're going to have to leg it out, we will provide Intel as you go. Phoenix out" The radio operator said in a monotone voice. Arklite made a fist. "Got it, Phoenix, we'll make a plan, Titan out." Arklite responded as he punched the concrete wall. The entire team heard the transmission, they were awestruck.

It looks like they're going to have to take The Long Road Home…


	8. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7 ****–**** Hammer & Sickle**

**13 Hours into ****Mission ****Survival…**

The noise outside simmered down considerably. The enemy had the basic knowledge that the team was in there, but the large hardware store lived up to its huge external appearance, the inside comprised of 45 isles, it was the definition of a superstore. Vickers and Bishop decided to leave the hideout and check the store out for vantage points and extras. They passed a hammer-based isle and Bishop stopped in front of it. He walked over to a sledgehammer, for some reason he took an interest in it.

"Fallacy…" Bishop mumbled as he reached for it, and took it. It had a clip that could latch onto a belt. He clipped it and walked back to Vickers. "It's a sledgehammer, what're you gonna do with it?" Vickers asked curiously as they walked back to the storage room. "You'll see, just wait." Bishop replied, chuckling slightly. "Whatever you say man." Vickers responded shaking his head. The two approached the door to the storage room and walked in. Blackburn was taking apart and maintenencing his rifle at a workbench, Yuya was napping and Arklite was sitting on the cement bags next to Artyom, talking to him. Arklite glanced over to Vickers and Bishop, and stood to talk to them.

"He should be okay for now, no walking for awhile though. You think you can talk to him for awhile? I gotta walk a little, today's been hell." Arklite asked while putting a hand to his forehead, the other grabbing the door handle. "Sure thing Marcus." Damian responds. As Arklite stepped put Bishop sat down next to the wounded Russian and layed his rifle down. Vickers sat across from the two on some cement bags.

"Hey, Artyom, how'd you manage to get into American military when you were in the Spetsnaz?" Bishop asked. He was curious considering Artyom's background in the Russian Special Forces.

"Hehe, I was wondering how long it'd be until someone would ask me, it was only a matter of time. Well it seems like it will be long until we leave, so get comfortable." Artyom said straightening himself up and began to tell of the events that unfolded back when…

**-June 31, 2025- **

**Pripyat, Ukraine "The Zone" near the now abandoned Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant…**

Nearly forty years after the Chernobyl Disaster in 1986, the city of Pripyat still remains nearly a barren wasteland. Nature has already begun taking the land back with overgrowth of plants and fauna on the now decrepit and ghost town of the once great and prosperous city.

The long time lasting Soviet Union is now crumbling and reaching a Capitalist government while at the same time Russia is at war with neighboring country, China. Russia is losing, surprisingly and they need allies to turn the war, Russian representatives have managed to make contact with NATO and asked America, a long time ally from the old World War II times, to help them in their time of need, in return, Russia will become a capitalist nation and become a neutral location.

As a way to establish easier contact with the Americans, the Russian military have sent a Spetznaz team with representatives to meet an American JSOC team with representatives and arrange to make negotiations in the once glorious city, as it is one of the few places near Russia and in Russian control that is safe…however, the Chinese have learned of this and will make any attempt of stopping this possible.

Artyom was part of the spetznaz team that was sent to meet the Americans, as an easier way of passage around some of the more highly contaminated parts of the city they moved through the abandoned Metro system. Power is still run in the Metro tunnels as its power supply is connected to the Ukraine power grid.

Artyom's spetznaz team was equipped with AN-94s, VSK-94s, AK-74Ms, and PKP Pechenegs. At the time he used an AN-94 Assault Rifle, over the PKP he favors in the present. His long time friend, Colonel Miller Kraykovich was the leader of the team. Sergeant Danilla Petro, Lieutenant Khan Vorshevsky, and Major Pavel Kamorov were the other four members. They were escorting two government representatives to the negotiation site. The team moved through the abandoned tunnels with little caution as the only current habitants of the tunnels are rats and other small rodents, all of which avoid the tall humans. Miller was leading them through the tunnels and they reached an airlock, he pressed a few buttons and the airlock opened revealing a bright surface world. To be safe whenever they went to the surface they'd put their gasmasks on.

"Gasmasks, on." Miller said as the airlock slowly pulled itself open, revealing the desolate landscape of Pripyat. Everyone pulled on their gasmasks and unlocked the filters.

"So this is the dead city, welcome home Colonel." Kamorov said laughing a little; Colonel Miller was born in Pripyat in 1985, a year before the event. "Yeah, so glad to be back, okay, okay, the meeting site is near the abandoned Power plant, the infamous reactor number 4. We're quite a ways from that, let's go." Miller responded sarcastically and ordered. Artyom was in the back of the group; Miller turned and noticed something off about him.

"Artyom! Podoydi syuda!" Miller yelled, telling him to come up to him, Artyom looked forward and jogged up. "Yes, Colonel?" he responded, Artyom was unsettled at the deserted city. He heard a lot of the rumors surrounding it and never thought he'd ever go to it. "Something seems the matter Artyom, everything alright?" The Colonel asked, he worries for his comrades, so it isn't a wonder why he's asking.

"I'm fine, sir. Just a little bit…I don't know, nervous I guess. I never thought I'd ever come to this city, ever." Artyom responded, clearing his throat. "Ah, well if you're in a new place it'll happen. Just relax, there's no-one else here except us and the Americans at the meeting place." Miller said, calming down the worried Artyom slightly. Artyom fell back a little and Danilla walked next to him.

"Don't worry man; once we're out of this fallen place I'll buy you a drink." Danilla said in a surprisingly cheerful tone. He was the greenest of the group, but has seen considerable action in the field. He maintained a positive attitude to keep his psyche up. "I'll hold you to it Danilla, haha." Artyom responded laughing. Their patrol continued and they trekked on for the next 20 minutes to the site of the abandoned reactor.

**In the interest of time…**

The group of Russian soldiers and the representatives had reached the area not too far from the reactor site, and Miller noticed a group of soldiers standing near a peculiar tent. Miller motioned to stop.

"Unknown contacts, dead ahead. Stay quiet." Miller said as he reached for a pair of binoculars. He put the lenses to his face and saw American flag patches on the shoulders of the soldiers, revealing the faction that the soldiers belonged to. Miller put his binoculars away and grabbed his AK-74.

"Okay, they're here. We're right on time." Miller said, he kept his cool along with the rest of the team. They got up from their covered position and walked into the open; one of the Americans spotted the Russian soldiers and raised his weapon.

"Stand still! Identify yourself or you will be shot!" He yelled, finger resting firmly on the trigger. All of the Russians raised their left hand as Miller walked forward.

"No need to worry American, we are the group sent here to meet with you for negotiations. Now, can we just drop these hostilities?" Miller responded, proving his Russian alliance. Apparently there was enough noise that stirred up the other people in the tent, emerging from it was a certain Captain Arklite.

"Lower your weapon Staff Sergeant, he's telling the truth. Well if it isn't the man himself, Colonel Miller. Never thought I'd meet you, only heard stories." Arklite said stretching a hand out to shake his hand, to which Miller did the same and shook.

"Likewise Captain, I've heard quite a bit about you myself to tell the truth, but that's beside the point, we're here for another reason, right?" Miller responded as he nodded his head to the Government representatives. The area was de-toxicated by the Americans prior to setting up camp, it was a safe zone for the time being.

"That is true, in the tent is where the negotiations will begin, you two get in there and begin the alliance talk, we'll stand guard." Arklite said to the two representatives, they just nodded and walked into the tent, as the negotiations began the Americans and Russians decided to familiarize themselves with each other.

"Captain Arklite, these are the men I've chosen for this mission, Sergeant Danilla Petro, Artyom Khar, Lieutenant Khan Vorshevsky, and Major Pavel Kamorov. They are all well suited for the job I assure you." Miller stated with a light laugh at the end. Artyom seemed on edge, not about the Americans but he felt something was about to happen. Danilla noticed him being off again and approached him.

"Artyom, something the matter? You haven't been yourself this entire mission." Said Danilla worryingly. The two stood near a roadside checkpoint station to get into the desolate Reactor 4 facility. "I don't know Danilla, something about this mission, this place…just…doesn't make much sense. I've been trying to figure it out but can't wrap my mind on it. I could just be paranoid though." Artyom stated, it was the most he said in awhile. "Do you think it's because of the Americans? The fact that we're meeting up with them?" Danilla responded as he leaned on the checkpoint booth. "No, no it can't be that. We came here to bury the hatchet with them, I understand that. But, something else seems off." He stated as he scanned the area, left to right, up then down, it had appeared clear. "It looks clear Artyom, no need to be worried man." Danilla said as he looked around with Artyom. "Looks can be deceiving Danilla, looks can be deceiving…" Artyom stated slowly.

"Artyom! Danilla! Get over here!" Miller shouted towards them. The two jumped slightly due to Miller breaking the steady silence there was. They jogged over to Miller and shouldered their rifles. "Yes Colonel?" They said at the same time. "At ease comrades, there is no need for the formalities, Artyom I'd like you to meet Marcus Arklite, one of the best soldiers I know that is American." Miller said. "An honor to meet you Artyom, Miller told me about your battle performance, you're something like the strong silent type eh?" Marcus said as he reached his hand out to shake his hand. "An honor to meet you too Marcus, I've heard a bit about you as well, and it depends on the situation." Artyom said chuckling. He reached his hand out as well and the two shook hands. "Marcus this is Danilla, our newest member." Miller said as Artyom stepped to side and leaned on a damage support beam, beginning to look around again.

"Mister Arklite, glad to meet you." Danilla said adjusting his shoulder strap and reaching to shake Marcus' hand. "No need for the mister part, I'm not that old haha." Marcus replied as the two shook hands, he always thinks that a "mister" is a rather old man term. As the three conversed Artyom stood at the side, near one of the tents, thinking to himself. The young Russian's thoughts were interrupted by a metallic "Clank!" on the floor. He looked down and saw something rolling on the floor, his heart sunk straight into his gut.

"Oh shi-, GRENADE!" Artyom yelled out, he ran to the thing and kicked it with all the might he could force up. The explosive launched into the air slightly and picked up on speed after the strike; it hit the dirt and exploded creating a massive crater. Like clockwork, an unknown amount of combatants opened and unleashed a hail of lead on the meet-up site. Every single soldier, American or Russian, surrounded the site and stuck behind cover.

"Who's shooting at us?!" yelled out Lt. Vorshevsky. "Who do you think?! It's the fucking Chinese!" Miller responded, he stuck his head up slightly and saw where the fire was coming from, a nearby office building. "Artyom! You see that building over there!?" Miller called out as he pointed toward it. Artyom stuck his head up only briefly before and saw the building, before he could pinpoint which floors they were on; a round grazed his ear, just barely missing it as the round hits the floor. He looked up again from a different angle and saw where they were.

"They're on the third and fourth floors!" Artyom yelled out as a reply, he flipped the fire-selector on his AN-94 to the 2-Round Burst setting. He let out four bursts in the direction of the shooters, the rifle let out a very deep roar with each burst. "I thought you weren't followed!?" Marcus yelled out as he fired his rifle in unison with Artyom, everyone took the initiative and assisted with the suppressing fire. "WE WEREN'T DAMNIT! They must've already been here or followed us!" Miller yelled angrily. They fired back and forth for nearly thirty minutes. Miller was getting annoyed.

"We're going nowhere sitting here and wasting our ammo!" He yelled as he changed positions to be next to Artyom. "My men, we're moving out to the building, let's clear them out!" He said as he kneeled down next to Artyom, who was reloading his rifle. He noticed Miller near him and nodded to the order. "Good, I was getting sleepy anyway." Major Komorov replied over the radio.

"We'll assist, Davis, Richards! The second these guys move we give 'em supporting fire and move with them! Got it?" Marcus said to two of his men, there were fifteen American soldiers, three of them were going to move with the Russians, Marcus included. "Got it sir!" "Yes sir!" The two yelled out as they readied themselves.

"On Three! One!..." Miller yelled. "Here we go." Danilla said to himself. "Two!..." yelled the Colonel. "Get Ready!" Lt. Vorshevsky yelled out. "THREE! GO, GO, GO!" Miller yelled as he jumped over the cover he was on, all the other members of the group followed and bolted around their cover. "Suppressive fire! Suppressive Fire!" Marcus yelled as he and his two subordinates came out of cover, guns blazing, running full speed.

"Diamond Formation! Move!" Major Komorov yelled as he took lead, Artyom and Miller stacked behind him, making the side corners, Lt. Vorshevsky filled in the center, and Danilla came in last, forming the diamond.

"Didn't know we were in Ghost Recon!" Lt. Vorshevsky jokingly said as they ran to the office building, lighting it up with lead. "It works in real life if you know how to do it right!" Miller replied. The entire group had been fighting for some time now, and they grew accustom to making jokes even in battle. Marcus' group was right next to them, moving in a "Spinning triangle" type movement.

"Right with you guys!" Marcus yelled at them. They continuously fired the buildings floors, holding the opposition down and denying their movement. They moved with high agility and speed. Maneuvering almost around the little enemy fire there was, the rounds just seemingly missed all of the soldiers. They broke formation after a rather large distance covered and took cover behind a group of cars in the front parking lot. Marcus' group followed right behind them and stopped at a large truck. They were also however, out of the safe zone.

"Gas masks, on now!" Miller ordered as everybody scrambled for their masks. They put them on, tightened them, and locked the filters. They were almost too late, had they stayed without them any longer, they'd begin to feel the effects of the highly irradiated air in the city, and begin to asphyxiate.

"Alright look, we need to clear out that damn building! We'll send in groups of two at a time! Who's first in?" Miller asked, there was a brief silence. "Well, Who?!" He asked impatiently. After a short moment and finally breaking the silence there used to be.

"I'll go." Artyom spoke up. Miller turned to him. "Okay, good. Anybody else?" He asked the other three. "No, I'll go in alone. The two who decide next follow up behind me." Artyom said seriously, he wanted to clear the entire place out himself. At the beginning of the war almost his entire family was slaughtered in a Chinese raid on his home town except for his brother and sister. Out of eight children, Artyom and his two siblings were all that remain.

"Are you crazy Artyom?! There needs to be someone covering your back as you clear the floors! There's a shit ton of them and it won't be easy alone!" Lt. Vorshevsky responded. "He's right; you'll be a dead man before you can finish clearing them out!" Pavel followed up. Artyom ignored their warnings and mantled over the wall and ran to the front door of the office building. The door was a steel framed glass door. He took the butt end of his AN-94 and smashed in the glass, he went under the hand rail on the door and stepped in the empty building, and began sweeping left and right.

"Artyom! What the hell are you doing?!" They all asked. There was a moment of silence. "My job, enough waiting around right? If you want to punish me for disobeying orders you might as well hand me off to the Americans!" Artyom responded with anger in his voice. "_Yebat_ʹ, Artyom!" Miller cursed in Russian. "Danilla, you and me, let's go!" Miller said as he himself left cover and sprinted to the door. "Ye-Yes Sir!" Danilla responded as he followed. "Come on, we gotta make sure Artyom doesn't get himself fucking Killed!" Miller said as he ducked in the door and checked the inside. "Artyom? What floor are you on? Artyom?!" Miller said into his radio. No response for a good minute, and then the radio channel flickered with the sound of gunfire in the background.

"Third floor, they've got this place covered good." Artyom responded. "Hold your position, we're heading there now! Vorshevsky! Pavel! Let's go, get inside!" Miller responded then ordered. "On our way!" They complied; they were already on the way because of the chatter going on. "Marcus, you and your men get back to the site and make sure none show up at the site, we'll be good here!" Miller said as he and Danilla Stormed up the stairs of the office building. "Got it Miller, see you when you're back." Marcus replied as he and his group began to return back to the meeting site.

**Inside the building…**  
Artyom was standing behind a large filing cabinet, using it for cover, the enemy was lighting that area up and chopping it down nearly everything that could be used as cover, they didn't know exactly where he was, but they made sure whatever could be used as cover they demolished. "Alright Artyom, it's now or never!" Artyom yelled to himself as he turned around the corner and opened fire. He targeted the ones with the heaviest weaponry, the support gunners and then transitioned to the riflemen, putting precise shots to each of their heads. The majority of them dropped from the shots, but after both Artyom and an enemy ran out of ammo in their weapons, Artyom unsheathed his knife and charged at the weakened soldier. He punched the Chinese combatant, stunning him and causing him to drop his sidearm. Artyom then grabbed the soldier's wrist, twisted it upwards, snapping his arm and wrist with a very audible "Crack!", even amongst the chaos of gunfire from upstairs. The soldier grabbed at Artyom's arm, pleading to him, begging in Mandarin, the young Russian then flipped the knife and drove it into the chest of the soldier, ripping through the uniform and puncturing the heart.

"Gnitʹ v adu ... i uznatʹ, kak glupo vy byli yebatʹ srusskim." Artyom said in the soldiers ear as the Chinese operative drew his last breath. He took his knife out and let the soldier fall to the ground, at that moment Miller and Danillahad nade it to the floor and entered the large room and saw the massacre.

"Holy Shi-Artyom, you did this?" Danilla asked in shock. Artyom just nodded and re-sheathed his knife. He went for his AN-94 and picked it up to reload it. "From now on I'm using an LMG after this." Artyom said as he chambered a round in his rifle. He looked around and saw a door leading to a staircase, Miller and Danilla were looking at the mess in the room in awe. They never thought that one guy could clear out the place, regardless of who it was. Artyom began walking to the door and opened it. At that moment Lt. Vorshevsky and Major Komorov reached the floor and the section they were at. Artyom turned to everyone before anybody else could say anything about the carnage.

"Come on, we still got another floor don't we?" Artyom said right as Major Komorov was about to say something. "Yeah, yeah we do. Sounds like they're diverting their fire to the Americans, let's give 'em a hand." Miller said as he jogged over to the staircase, everyone else followed. "Yeah, let's." Danilla replied with slight enthusiasm in his voice. The group ran up the stairs and stopped at the first door up the stairs. Artyom grabbed the doorknob and everyone stacked behind him. "Maybe they forgot we were here." Danilla said, noting how the gunfire sounds directed somewhere completely different from them.

"Maybe. Artyom, open it." Miller ordered with his hand tapping his shoulder, giving the order to breach. Artyom turned the knob and pushed the door open, running to the closest piece of cover as quietly as possible. Miller and Danilla followed and took cover at the cubicles next to Artyom. Lt. Vorshevsky and Major Komorov ran to some firing cabinets and took cover there. Vorshevsky threw himself on a filing cabinet and knocked over an assortment of glass figurines, the items hit the tiled floors with a very loud crash. "Shiiiit, they didn't hear that did they?" Vorshevsky asked quietly. He peered around the cabinet and saw they hadn't changed their gaze, the gunfire shallowed out the glass shattering. A sigh of relief came out of Vorshevsky. "Lucky bastard." Komorov said holding back laughter. "Enough, let's clear the problem, shall we?" Miller asked, cocking his rifle to rechamber a new round.

"Hell Yeah." Artyom and Danilla said. At that moment they all jumped out of their cover and made their presence known. "kto gotov umeretʹ?!" Vorshevsky yelled, asking who's ready to die. The Chinese soldiers ceased their fire to see a line of Russian soldiers, with guns ready to shoot. Before the combatants could respond and fire at the Russians, the Spetznaz operatives had pulled their triggers first, unloading an unrelenting hail of gun-fire into their enemies. The rounds like a meteor shower hitting the group of Chinese soldiers, blazing right through them and stopping at the wall, empty cartridges hit the floor and rang like a bell from hell. The Russians could tell that their enemy is now dead but continued to fire out of rage. The gunfire finally stopped when the guns ran dry of ammo. As the haze of gun smoke cleared, a horrifying massacre was left behind. The bodies scattered on top of each other, blood spattered along the wall, it looked like something from a bloody murder. The Russians showed no remorse for their actions.

"All clear, let's get back to the site." Miller said as he turned to the stairs, everyone followed and they walked back to the rendezvous site. Artyom had blood all over his uniform, the Berkut style camoflauge pattern now mixed with a deep red stain. They returned to the meeting tents to be greeted by Marcus and his men, and the political officials who undertook the negotiations. Marcus was smiling.

"Welcome back, looks like you guys had a hell of a time." Marcus said laughing slightly. "Yeah, you missed the party." Danilla said, he sat down on the cement road and rolled his sleeves up, the cold air cooling him off.

"Well, we've come to an agreement! America and Russia are now military and political allies! All we have to do is head back and relay back to Moscow." The Russian Representative said with glee in his voice. With two of the world's greatest superpowers as allies, the war was as good as over.

"But! On one condition that we've confirmed to our Commanding officers." The American representative replied. "Okay…and what does that have to concern us with?" Miller asked, shouldering his rifle. "The Americans and the Russian units trade off some soldiers. We will be the first ones to do so as a…solidification of the order." Marcus followed up with, his tone of voice was more serious now. "A trade off? Right now?" Miller asked Marcus, everyone was dumbstruck by the order. "This is serious?!" Komorov asked. "Yes, it is. But that means we hand over one of our men too. Just one, and they'll return home." Marcus responded, he motioned over a soldier, "Sergeant Michael Ryan, he's more than capable." The sergeant nodded and saluted. "I'll be the trade Miller, I know if I don't I'm going to be in hell. Let me go." Artyom stepped forward, volunteering him to be traded off. "Are you sure Artyom? I'll let you go, but if I find out you'll be coming home in a box, I'm bringing you back into this world and I'll kill you again, hahaha." Miller responded bursting into laughter, Artyom nodded and chuckled. "Don't worry my old friend, as I heard a man once say…"I'll be back". Don't worry Miller." Artyom responded with as he shook hands with Miller and everyone else. "I'll hold that drink for you Artyom. Just come back in one piece." Danilla said jokingly. "Bog s toboy , Artem." Komorov said to Artyom, telling god be with him. "Good luck out there, you'll need it." Vorshevsky said to Artyom.

"Thank you, I'll be needing it." He responded, shaking all of their hands and saluting them. "Will we cross paths sometime again, Artyom?" Miller asked curiously. Artyom stepped over and shook hands with Marcus, he turned. "Undoubtedly, Miller. Just a matter of time." Artyom said laughing. The groups made the trade, and parted ways. As they separated and walked away. Artyom was getting familiar with his new comrades, and Marcus stepped next to him.

"I will make sure I get you back safe, even if I lose my life in the process. Alright Artyom?" He told him, Artyom looked at him. "Understood, I'll do my best to make you don't die. Doesn't sound good for business." He responded. They laughed and continued to an Extraction site. And flew to the nearest American encampment….

**Back to the Present…**

"And there you have it. That's how I'm Here today." Artyom said, chuckling in the process. "Damn, that's crazy. So how come you haven't gone back yet if the Russo-Chinese war is over?" Bishop asked curiously. "Yeah, wouldn't you be home by now?" Vickers followed up with. "The deal was whenever a war occurs and Russian or American militaries are involved, the traded units return to their trade off commanding officer, in my case, Marcus." Artyom responded, Clearing the curiosity of the two. During the story Yuya had left the room with Mason to check how Marcus was doing. However, Yuya returned and entered the room with excitement in her movement.

"Guys!" She exclaimed, Bishop and Vickers got up, Artyom stood himself up on the wall. "What's up Lynne?" Bishop asked, wondering if something happened. "You gotta come see this! All three of you, bring all of your stuff and follow me." She said as she scrambled to get her and Masons equipment. Everyone else followed through and got their stuff. Artyom reached for his PKP, but Bishop picked it up.

"No need to put the stress on yourself. Damian, get Artyom and I'll carry your equipment." Vickers nodded and handed him his things, and he rung Artyom's arm over his shoulder and moved with him to the door. Yuya had already left the room and began waiting outside. "This better be worth the movement of everything." Bishop and Vickers said. Usually they'd be at odds, but for now, they view each other with respect.

**To Be Continued…**


	9. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8 ****–**** Into the Hidden**

**14 Hours into Survival…  
****-April 2****nd**** 2029-**

"Would you mind telling me what it is we're going off to Lynne?" Bishop asked Yuya, who was leading them to where Arklite was. "The Captain found something that you'll want to see yourself. A way out without getting killed." She said to Bishop, in which Bishop looked at Artyom and Vickers in shock, they returned the look. "Wait, out of this city or the building?" Vickers asked, he sped up his walking a bit. Artyom nearly tripped as he attempted to keep up. The group kept up with her and entered what appeared to be the previous manager's office. And a manhole type cover was seen and Marcus was examining the entry area.

"Whoa, what the hell would they need this for?" Artyom said as he moved his arms off of Vickers and Bishop, standing up a little slanted like. "You gonna be alright Artyom?" Vickers asked him in shock that the Russian was standing. "Yeah, I can walk, it'll hurt a bit but you just gotta man up at times. Plus I don't want to hold anyone back if things get thick again, hand me my gun." Artyom said as he reached out to Yuya, who had his PKP on her shoulder, the large machine gun nearly as tall as her if one would stand the gun next to her. However Artyom did customize the gun quite a bit, he added an extended heavy barrel to reduce recoil and increase range, a new steel Bipod which, increases weight on the end of the gun. And a larger, adjustable stock was added by him, the gun to others weighed a ton but to Artyom, it was lightweight, pretty much showing his strength. She un-shouldered the gun and handed it to Artyom. He grabbed it with one hand and shouldered it himself. He saw some duct tape and reached for it, pulled some off and put it above the wound to cover it from the outside air. Marcus glanced over to the other members, and reached for the edge of the manhole, with both hands.

"Mason, can you give me a hand?" he asked looking over to Blackburn. He nodded and put his gun down, kneeling down and grabbing the other end. "Alright on three. One, two, and three!" Marcus said as he and Mason lifted the manhole and leaned it against the wall in the room. The entire squad looked into hole, and noticed something, it wasn't a sewer line. After a brief silence Arklite put his weapon on his back.

"Well, into the hidden it is, we can't go guns blazing out of here." He said to the group. "He's got a point." Yuya said, they all agreed and jumped down, Artyom went last and went to a knee as he landed. Bishop put a hand out to the Russian. "You alright?" He asked, Artyom grabbed his hand and pulled himself up. "Yeah, I'm fine, let's go." The tunnel they were in was a method of escape for the store owner in case of an invasion, somewhat foreshadowing the war. They continued down the large tunnel until they had reached a normal sized metal door, which was left crept open. No noise was heard but all of the lights were left on. Arklite signaled for a standstill, Bishop moved ahead of the group and Marcus grabbed him on the shoulder.

"What the hell do you think you're doing, John?" Arklite asked as he pulled him back slightly. "In a place hidden under a gigantic super hardware store that the enemy is surrounding, how would they know of this place if they're hiding outside?" Bishop asked Arklite with a serious face. Arklite let go, "Go ahead, but I swear if something happens you won't hear or see the end of it. Got it?" Arklite said, Bishop nodded and raised his rifle forward; he pushed the door open with the rifle and peeked into the room, checking his left and right into the room. He stepped in cautiously and scanned the room, and right away noticed a large object covered in a sheet. Bishop signaled them that the area was clear and they entered the room in a similar fashion to him.

"What's under that?" Bishop asked himself as he walked over and yanked off the sheet with full force, revealing an SUV decked out with military grade armor, bulletproof glass, and what appears to be a gun port on the top. It had been made for the owner of the store, quite possibly along with many others. The entire team stood and stared in awe at not only this hidden escape route, but the armored vehicle and how extremely well built this place was. After a moment of silence and a long time unsaid, Vickers spoke up.

"Well shit, looks like we got a way out. Anybody know where there'd be any keys?" He said as he walked around, inspecting the vehicle. Vickers had a rather…troubled past, while he was younger he learned about car, trucks, any motor vehicle. "I'll start looking around, hopefully there are some around." Yuya said as she checked around and looked for a place where keys would be, a table or rack. Artyom shouldered his PKP and leaned on a wall so he could take a look at his wound, the round went clean through. He tightened the bandages and his boot to keep pressure on it. Arklite and Blackburn decided to look around as well.

"Mason, you good? Seems redundant but looks like there's something on your mind." Arklite asked as the two checked lockers and desks all around the room and smaller side rooms. "I'm tired, and we've been through hell. I just want to get the fuck out of here." Blackburn replied with quietly. "Yeah, I know, we'll get out of here soon, alive and together." Arklite responded. "I Hope you're right Marcus. I really do." Blackburn said as he peered into a cabin that had a key rack that was able to hold up to ten sets of keys, nine of which were gone. Mason reached in and grabbed the keys, and went to walk over to Vickers.

"Hey, I think I found what we're looking for." Blackburn said to Vickers, gaining his attention as he gave him the key. "Nice, good shit Black, Alright let's saddle up!" He said as he unlocked the doors. Artyom got up and went for the drivers seat. Bishop stopped him for a second.

"You want to drive man? Think your foot will handle it?" He asked curiously to the Russian. "I'll take it, Damian! Don't mind if I drive?" Artyom replied and asked. "Sure if you can handle it." He answered to Artyom as he tossed the key to him. Everyone got a seat and shut the doors. Artyom started up the vehicle and it had a full tank, working lights and everything was in working order. Arklite before getting in opened the garage door leading out. He took the passenger seat and shut the door. The SUV they were in was like a rolling fortress, in the middle of the second row there was what looked like a modified M134 Gatling Gun that can be pushed out of the roof through the port in the roof to be used as a gunners area. Bishop and Yuya sat in the second row while the third row had two turning seats that can turn to the trunk window that can be propped open and used as another gunning port. Blackburn turned his seat facing back to provide rear support just in case. The SUV pulled up to another large garage type door. Arklite jumped out like last time and lifted the door open. He kept it shut and returned to the vehicle.

"Alright we need a route out of here. I'm looking now." Arklite said as he looked into the glove box and around his side of the vehicle and found a road map. He looked around on it and figured out where they were and thought of an escape route. "Okay, okay, we're here. Alright I remember on our way in the docks had some transport craft there, let's get over there and check it out." He said as he marked where to go from where they were and handed the map to Artyom, who clipped it to the dashboard. They came out around the back of the hardware store and turned to avoid passing directly ahead of it where the enemy might have been hiding to jump them. Artyom steadily drove through a few blocks and so far things were good. Artyom and Arklite scanned the area as they went.

"So, you think they'd still be outside of that store?" Vickers asked, clearing his throat. "Possibly, don't want to jinx it yet." Arklite responded. They turned a corner and a large group of enemy soldiers bum-rushed the vehicle. Firing volleys of gunfire at them.

"Holy Shit! Looks like the jinx worked!" Bishop yelled as he ducked down out of reflex, the windows held up extremely well, Artyom stomped his foot on the pedal and shifted the vehicle into top gear, creating a bit of tirespin as the SUV trailed to high speeds. It was an extremely large force of units just unleashing hellfire on the vehicle, which went top speed through corners and stayed on the road. Vickers jumped up and pushed the roof port open, and released the Gatling Gun, he stood up and flipped the safeties off and turned to where the enemy was.

"It's time you met the dragon!" Vickers yelled as he spun up and began firing the Gun, the eight barrels spun at great speed and the incredibly loud buzzing that the gun gave off from the six-thousand rounds per minute that were being fired at the foot soldiers, it ripped through some of the crowds of enemy units and they split off to find cover. It also acted as suppressing fire, the hail of bullets from the enemy was lightened greatly, but they were persistent and kept up with the team, now tailing them in vehicles of their own. When they entered the vehicle Artyom handed Blackburn his PKP, he lowered the rear window and mounted the Machine gun, when it was secure he opened fire on the vehicles.

"Vickers, I'll handle the rear, keep your eyes up ahead or on the sides!" Blackburn yelled as he fired, Vickers went down and got ammo to reload the M134 as Blackburn said that. "Got it!" He replied with as he locked the chamber of the minigun and turned it forward to fire on any enemies ahead. Bishop and Yuya lowered their windows and opened fire on the sides, Arklite was directing Arklite while firing and spotting out of his window. He noticed an alleyway that they could use as a shortcut. He tapped Artyom's shoulder and pointed.

"Take the alley! Then turn left!" He yelled to him, the sound of roaring gunfire making it hard to hear. Artyom took the alley and it lessened the tension as two vehicles attempted to enter at the same time and crashed into each other. "Take a breather while you can! Reload if you got to!" Arklite commanded. "One step ahead of you sir!" Vickers said as he reached for a belt extension. The vehicle sped out of the alley and were greeted to a gunship. An Mi-35M "Hind". It opened fire and just barely missed the SUV. The ground forces were caught up on their trucks and transport, the gunship was their main problem.

"FUCKING HIND! WATCH OUT!" Vickers yelled as he turned to fire on it, Blackburn assisted but the Hind's heavy armor was just shrugging it off. "How the fuck are we supposed to shoot that shit down!?" Blackburn yelled. Arklite searched around and found an M320 HE Grenade Launcher in the side slot of the SUV, he was about to call it out and hand it to Vickers but Artyom saw it and reached for it.

"Artyom what are you going to do?!" Arklite asked furiously, Artyom got them on a long, open strip of straight land. "Take the wheel! I got it, give it to me!" He said as he opened the door, with his foot still planted in the footwell of the vehicle. Arklite checked if it was loaded and grabbed the wheel while giving it to Artyom.

"BURN THAT MOTHERFUCKER!" Arklite yelled, Artyom leaned outside of the car, with a hand holding onto the door, the other aiming at the tailing Hind. In his mind the world around him slowed down as he aimed, he remembers a particular line he heard before as he lined up the shot. "Yippie Ky-Yay MOTHERFUCKER!" He screamed as he pulled the trigger, the grenade launcher made a loud "Ploonk" noise and the round hit the cockpit, and blew up the front of the helicopter, the Hind began to spin uncontrollably and hit the ground, rolling at the same speed it was flying, after rolling a few times, it bounced a considerable height before landing and creating a large explosion, Arklite grabbed Artyom and pulled him into the Vehicle.

"That was some crazy shit you just did. But it fucking worked!" Bishop and Vickers yelled as they started freaking out and laughing. "good stuff Artyom, but next time don't suggest some shit like that." Arklite said. "Crazy bastard." Blackburn muttered to himself as he chuckled. "Yes sir, just an in the moment thing. Let's hope that never happens again." Artyom replied with. After a few more minutes of driving they made it to the docks. The docks were used for freight ships, ocean liners, cargo ships, so and so-forth.

"Alright guys, we gotta look around for a boat that will work and get us out of here quickly." Arklite said as he and everyone else got out. Artyom stayed in the SUV however. Bishop noticed and came over. "Hey you coming?" He asked, Artyom looked at him. "Yeah I'm coming, just a minute." He responded with. Bishop nodded and jogged up to the rest of the group, who weren't too far ahead, but were looking around the area. Vickers felt odd, he looked over in the direction they came and saw what looked like footsoldiers running towards them, looks they noticed as well and opened fire.

"Shit! Get to cover! Artyom get out of the vehicle!" Bishop yelled, Artyom shut his door and spun the SUV around. "Artyom! What the hell do you think you're doing now!?" Arklite yelled, questioned him into his comm. "You've gotten this far, I won't let that go to waste." He responded with. He stamped his foot down and drove right into the oncoming unit, he managed to run some of them over, and he made a hard U-Turn for another pass.

"Come on we need to get out of here!" Arklite yelled. "What about Artyom?!" Yuya questioned. "We need to find a vantage point." Arklite responded with. They broke into the factory right next to them and rushed to the roof. Artyom made a few passes and stopped far away, "Good luck my friends, I wish it wouldn't have to happen like this." He said as he saw them rush into the factory. he readied for the next charge and floored the gas again, as he made his pass, an enemy unit he didn't see had fired an RPG at the SUV, it hit the ground directly next to the back of the vehicle, the explosion threw it into the air, causing it to flip multiple times. As the vehicle was hit the rest of the team made it to the roof and witnessed, it was too late.

"ARTYOM!" they yelled in shock. The SUV caught fire and flew into the water. Hitting it with great force and sinking right away. Bishop started sprinting for the door and Blackburn grabbed him, stopping him but nearly making him fall. "Let me go! We can still get him!" He said as he struggled with him, Yuya then held him back. "You guys are just gonna leave him!?" Bishop questioned.

"JOHN! He did that so we can get away. I know how are, we're all feeling this way. He didn't want us to die." Yuya said, Bishop stopped struggling, and dropped himself to the ground, getting silent. Everyone sat down, and looked to the ground.

"We're back to hiding, again. What the fuck." Vickers said enraged. "we'll stay up here for tonight but then we'll be getting the fuck out of this zone, and this god forsaken city." Arklite responded with.

"We're gonna make 'em pay. We're gonna make them all regret it." Bishop said to himself...


	10. Update 1 and Apologies

Dear Readers,

Hello! For those of you who read this and stay up to date, you've seen I've obviously been REALLY inactive recently and after months I've updated This very story. I hope you all enjoy and stay along for the ride. Things are getting a little crazy now aren't they? Have no fear for waiting months for a new entry, Chapter 9 is already in the works and it will be based on Damian Vickers, learn more of his past and how he was indicted into the military. Going back on the topic of me taking this hiatus on T.L.R.H. recently I've been dealing with endeavors in my family, My step-fathers mother finally moved out of the house and we had to fix up and clean an entire section of the house in New York, along with that I had my Freshman year of High School finals and damn they were hard! I am currently in Philadelphia, PA with my father and I plan on continuing the work I've started. Internet is my biggest worry and I sometimes have it and sometimes I do not. I do however, have my computer (DUUUUUH BLACKOUT!) and will continue to work on and finish entries with or without internet access.

On the topic of inspiration, I have struck a massive spike in it from Friends, family, and very story driven games like the Ace Combat series and I already have what's in mind for the next few chapters. So I hope you understand my hiatus and like a said before, stay along for the ride!

Sincerely,  
Alexander or XxBl4kOuTxX


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